


Scourge

by Moonloon (maryavatar)



Category: Merlin (TV)
Genre: Apocalypse, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2011-12-10
Updated: 2011-12-10
Packaged: 2017-10-27 04:14:20
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Rape/Non-Con
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,254
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/291510
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/maryavatar/pseuds/Moonloon
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Written for the 2010 apocalyptothon.  There is no 'normal'. A hidden enemy is more frightening than one you can see. Betrayal does not preclude desire.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Scourge

Arthur spent the days after the Dragon had been vanquished overseeing burials and rebuilding. It was hard, painful work, but it stopped him thinking about all the things that had happened, or all the things that could have happened. He was alive, his father was alive, Merlin and Gwen were alive. Camelot had lost a lot of good people and a great many buildings, but it would survive. Mourning the dead gave way to rebuilding for the future, and it seemed like the world was going back to the way it should be.

Of course – 'the way it should be' never lasted long. Arthur was reporting to his father about the latest building project, when a messenger arrived, carrying the seal of a Lord from the far North West of the kingdom.

The Messenger knelt. "Sire, I bring news from Lord Euell of Brindegdan. He requests help; defending his land from what can only be a magical attack."

Uther's attention became fixed on the messenger. "What sort of attack?"

"My Lord wasn't sure exactly what's attacking, but several outlying villages are abandoned, not a single person or scrap of food left, crops are gone, travellers are taking well-known and safe roads but never reaching their destination. My Lord sent out six of us, taking different routes… I was set to the longest stretch, and should have arrived last."

Uther nodded. "Arthur…"

"I'll put together a party of Knights," Arthur said.

The messenger wiped his hand across his face, his posture slipping from attention to exhausted relief. "Thank you, Sire."

~

Arthur swayed in the saddle, and thought he'd never been so tired in his entire life. It was a three day ride to Brindegdan, and they were only halfway there. The last decent night's sleep he'd had was the night he'd spent unconscious in Balinor's cave, which had to have been at least a week ago. He'd spent too many days doing the same backbreaking and heartbreaking work to be able to count the days since then.

"Merlin – how long has it been since I defeated the Dragon?" Arthur said, mostly just to see if Merlin was awake.

"Nine days," was Merlin's immediate answer. Arthur peered at Merlin, surprised that he seemed to be more alert than expected, but Merlin looked, if anything, worse than Arthur felt.

"Are you all right?" Arthur asked, realising that other than a few rushed conversations he hadn't really spoken to Merlin since they'd faced the Dragon together.

Merlin was staring at something in the distance. "I'm fine. Is that smoke?" He pointed to the north, where a thick smudge of grey marred the edge of a forest, right where Arthur's map said there was a small village.

The smoke came from a chimney fire that had almost burnt itself out. Apart from the crackle of flame and the occasional 'ping' of overheated stone, the village was completely silent. Arthur signalled his knights to dismount and search the village.

"Helloooo, the village!" Merlin yelled, making everyone else flinch.

Arthur glared. "Merlin! What if there are raiders in the area? You just told them where we are."

Merlin slid off his horse and landed with a thump beside Arthur. "If there were raiders here, they'd be watching the road, and they'd have seen us coming. But I don't think raiders did this."

"And why not?" Arthur kept his tone sceptical, but paid attention – Merlin had come up with far too many good ideas, and had noticed too many things other people missed, for Arthur to ignore his opinion.

Merlin pointed at a cart standing to one side of the green. "Look at the harness."

Arthur walked over to the cart and looked. "All right, what am I looking at? It's a cart and a harness. I've never needed to pay much attention to one before, but it looks normal enough to me."

"Exactly!" Merlin grinned, which drew Arthur's attention to the dark circles under Merlin's eyes. Once they arrived at Brindegdan he was going to have to make sure Merlin rested properly.

"Exactly what, Merlin?" Arthur asked, letting a slight edge of irritation show in his voice. "We don't have time to stand around playing guessing games."

Merlin held up the harness. "All the straps are buckled. And the harness has been left attached to the cart."

Arthur shrugged. "So?"

"So the harness stays on the horse. When you want to unhitch a horse from a cart, you just undo this bit here." Merlin pointed to a complicated pin arrangement. "And when you take the harness off a horse, you don't do the buckles back up afterwards." Arthur opened his mouth to ask if Merlin really believed a horse had just vanished, leaving the harness behind when Merlin dropped the harness and ran over to an animal pen a few yards away. "And look here – this gate is tied shut with twine, but the pen is empty. Why would someone tie this shut if there was nothing in it?"

"Sire!" Sir Adalmund shouted. "I think we've found something."

The 'something' was part of an ornate sword sticking out of an abandoned forge. Sir Adalmund poked at the metal. "The blacksmith was tempering the blade. I've watched it being done a dozen times. There's no way even an incompetent blacksmith would leave a blade like this lying in the flames."

Arthur was starting to get a very bad feeling about the village. "All right. Finish searching the village, and then we'll head out." Arthur walked out of the smithy and found Merlin staring at the trees near the edge of the village. "What?"

"There's usually birds and squirrels in trees." Merlin said, and Arthur realised that apart from the faint crackle of dying flames and the jingle of chainmail, there was no sound at all in the village.

"There's something wrong here. You get the horses, I'll round up the men. We're leaving _now."_

~

Arthur had never been so relieved to smell a tannery. The choking smell met them as soon as they entered the valley where Lord Euell's keep was built. They rode through the lower town, and Arthur let go of the tension he'd felt during the journey as townspeople moved out of the way.

"I was worried there wasn't going to be anyone here," Merlin said, putting voice to everyone's fears. Oddly enough, it made Arthur feel better.

Lord Euell was waiting at the gates as Arthur's party rode up. He was a thin, dark haired man of around twenty five, with a short beard and a scar on his neck from an assassination attempt when he'd come to power at the age of fifteen. Arthur vaguely remembered him from the ceremony when his father named him Crown Prince, but didn't think he'd ever said more than a few words to the man.

"Welcome, Prince Arthur," Lord Euell said. "I'm glad you came. I've rooms ready for you and your men." Euell paused. "I don't want to seem impertinent, and I know you've had a long journey, but…"

Arthur waved Euell silent. "We came across an empty village yesterday. I understand this is urgent. Let me wash off the travel dirt, and then we will talk."

~

Arthur suspected the room he'd been given was Euell's own – it felt warm and lived in. Merlin obviously thought so too, dropping the packs on the floor and sprawling on the thick wool rug in front of the fire.

"Oh! Oh, this is the nicest fireplace ever. You're going to talk to Euell, right? I can just lie here forever." Merlin stretched out like a cat then curled up, pillowed his head on his arm and stared into the fire with a dreamy expression on his face.

Arthur grinned. "Yes, you can lie in front of the fire. Once you've emptied the packs and put everything away, brushed my clothes out and washed all the horse smell off yourself. But first I need to get cleaned up. Come on - up!"

Merlin's pained groan was too entertaining. Arthur felt quite cheerful as he kicked off his riding boots, shrugged out of his coat, and held out his arms for Merlin to unlace his cuffs.

Later, as Merlin helped him on with a clean shirt, Arthur remembered his decision to get Merlin to rest properly. He put his hand on Merlin's shoulder, and tried not to notice how Merlin's shirt had slipped a little, and how soft and warm Merlin's skin was under his thumb. "Merlin, while I meet with Lord Euell, find yourself something to eat, then come back here."

Merlin looked up, startled. "What? Why? There's a nice warm pile of hay in the stable loft with my name on it."

"Nonsense," Arthur said, "What if I need something in the night? There's a servant's pallet under the bed. You can drag it in front of that fireplace you're so fond of."

Merlin smiled in that way that made him look like an idiot. "It is a very nice fireplace."

~

Arthur returned to the room dazed with the news that Euell had collected. The disappearances had started in the mountains to the north a week earlier, and had then swept south behind a late summer storm. Euell had stopped sending out scouts and trackers into the surrounding countryside because after the first few days, no one came back.

"Arthur?" Merlin said, sitting up in his nest of blankets by the fire. "You were gone a long time. It's bad, isn't it?"

"Yes," Arthur said, sitting down on the bed. "Fifteen villages confirmed empty, and it's been five days since any traders came through here. Normally, at this time of year, Brindegdan has upwards of twenty farmers and traders a day bringing harvest goods and summer-fat livestock into town. Lord Euell was amazed we got here at all."

Merlin shivered. "That's not good." He got out of bed and walked over to help Arthur off with his shirt.

Arthur sighed, taking a little comfort from Merlin's warm, sleepy presence. "No, it's not. There's something Lord Euell isn't telling me though. He almost said something twice, and then stopped himself. I'm going to have to get it out of him. Tomorrow." Arthur flopped back on the bed. "After I've slept."

~

Arthur woke to the sound of his chamber door opening.

"Sire?" Euell's voice. "I'm sorry to disturb you, but there's something I need to talk with you about. In private." Euell nodded at Merlin, who was making soft waking-up noises.

"You can speak freely in front of Merlin, I trust him," Arthur said, "and he may be of some use – he studies with Gaius, who advises the King on magical matters." Arthur climbed out of bed and sat down in a thickly padded chair by the fire. He prodded Merlin with his foot. "Merlin, wake up. The day is starting."

"Eugh." Merlin sat up, all tufts of hair and puffy eyes. "Oh, hello. Um, my Lord," Merlin said, scrambling to his feet. "I'll just…" Merlin grabbed the edge of the pallet and flipped it in half, then shoved it back under the bed.

Euell looked uncertain about Merlin's presence, but sat down across the hearth from Arthur, with a leather wrapped bundle on his lap, and took a deep breath before speaking. "I have always supported your father's rulings on magic."

Arthur nodded. "Yes."

Euell looked away, and then back. "My own father didn't. You should know… my mother was a Seer."

Arthur shook his head, from the light seeping through the window, it was barely dawn, and he definitely hadn't had enough sleep for this conversation. "A Seer."

"Yes. She never looked for the powers; the sight just came to her, unbidden. I think that more than once she would have wished the powers gone." Euell held out the leather-wrapped bundle. "She gave this to me before she died. It's for you."

Arthur leaned over and took the bundle. He peeled back the brittle leather and found a large iron-bound book. "For me?"

"I think so. She told me two things as she was dying. The first was to always carry a hidden knife when I ate with my uncle." Euell stroked the scar on his neck. "That was good advice; I'd be dead without it. And the other thing was that once the dragon under Camelot was gone, there would be a scourge, and the Lord of Dragons would need this book."

"Lord of Dragons?" Arthur raised one eyebrow.

Euell nodded. "You vanquished the last dragon, and you're of the House of Pendragon. Lord of Dragons."

Arthur studied the book. The iron binding wrapped tightly around the paper inside, but there was no visible catch to open it. "It's locked."

"She said you'd be able to open it."

Arthur frowned. "Hmm. What's in it?"

Euell shook his head. "I have no idea. I was a child when she gave me that book; she never spoke to me about her visions, other than what I've already told you. I learned more from my father and my advisers later, but I've never been able to open it."

Arthur stood up and carried the book over to a small table against the wall. "Thank you for your honesty, Lord Euell. You will not suffer for it."

Euell paused, obviously hoping that Arthur would open the book, but he could understand a dismissal when he heard one, and bowed deeply before leaving the room.

The room was silent for a few minutes while Arthur fiddled with the book and listened to Merlin rummage through the cupboards for clean clothes. A Seer – mother to one of Camelot's Lords? He knew what his father's reaction would be – to strip Euell of his lands and titles. But Euell was a good Lord, who seemed to care for his people well enough and always paid his taxes. It didn't benefit anyone to destroy him.

The book resisted all attempts to open it, and he dropped it back on the table in disgust. All this was doing was distracting him from doing what needed to be done. "Merlin! After you've brought my breakfast, let the knights know I want to see them in the main hall within the hour.

~

Arthur stood before the assembled knights. A number of Euell's knights and guardsmen had also joined the men, swelling the ranks to almost 60 men.

"I want everyone in groups of four, with at least one Camelot knight in each group. Lord Euell has a list. If you're a volunteer, give your name to Lord Euell and go to your assigned group. You are to ride out on a mapped route in sets of two pairs, one ahead of the other with at least half a mile between you. Lay a trail: the Camelot knights will show you how, and how to read a trail someone else has left behind. If you see the lead or rear pair attacked, do not engage the enemy unless you are sure you can defeat it. It is far more important for you get back here with information." Arthur motioned to Euell. "Lord Euell will stay here with a dozen knights to receive any reports of attack and act on them. Any questions?"

No one spoke.

"Good. Each group will have a map with a route marked, try to cover as much ground around that route as you can. I want everyone back here by sunset at the latest. And be careful – a lot of people have gone missing; I don't want any of you joining them. Good luck."

Arthur watched with pride as his knights guided the volunteers into their groups and moved off towards the stables. Lord Euell was pointing a few stragglers to the reserves; one or two women were tearfully kissing their men goodbye. And in the corner, wearing chainmail and a stubborn expression was Merlin.

Arthur walked over. "No."

Merlin used his most insubordinate grin. "I'm not asking permission to come. I've volunteered. Lord Euell has already assigned me a group."

Arthur already knew which group Merlin had been assigned to. Still, if Merlin was determined to come, at least he'd be able to keep an eye on him.

~

The day dragged slowly – the silence was unnerving, and Arthur's horse kept twitching and seemed about to bolt for the hills at any moment. Sir Adalmund and one of Euell's guardsmen, a stout, grey-bearded man called Chadrick rode at the front until they broke for lunch, and after they'd eaten Arthur and Merlin took point. They found nothing but empty villages and abandoned wagons. They stopped at one of the wagons.

"There's something odd," Merlin said.

"No, really?" Arthur replied, on edge from the silence and the fact that they still didn't have any idea what was causing the disappearances.

Merlin was rubbing the leather of the harness. "I noticed it at that first village. How did… what ever it is, get a horse out of a harness without unbuckling it and without drawing blood?"

"I suppose we'll find out once we find it, or them." Arthur said, turning back to his horse, which was showing signs of getting skittish again.

"This wagon is only half full," Merlin said, "And it's lopsided. There was something else here."

Arthur looked at the heavy sacks of wool on one side of the wagon. "Mutton. Or cheese. Whatever it is, it's taking everything that's edible."

Merlin shivered. "Right."

The sun started to sink, and Arthur sent Merlin on ahead with Chadrick, while he and Sir Adalmund compared notes. Neither of them had seen anything living, or any surviving crops on the sparse farmland.

They rode in through the gates just as the sun dipped below the horizon and met Euell dressed for battle.

"Sire!" Euell cried, "You're alive!"

Arthur noticed that the group of men standing in the courtyard was composed entirely of the reserves he'd left behind, and started to feel sick. "Has anyone else returned?"

Euell shook him head. "No one save yourselves, your manservant and Chadrick."

Arthur looked around at the men in the courtyard. "Go home. I'll not send more men out to…" He didn't want to say die, but he couldn't think of another word to use.

The men melted away into the shadows, a few showing clear relief and not being sent out into the night. Arthur watched them go, thinking of the men he'd lost, when Euell touched his arm. "Sire? There's more."

"Will I need wine for this?" Arthur asked.

Euell paused. "Yes. My wife has a meal and wine ready for us"

Arthur followed, unsure if he wanted to hear what else could have happened.

Euell's wife was a tall angry looking girl around Arthur's age, just starting to show signs of pregnancy. She put a large goblet of wine in front of Arthur and whispered, "Thank you for not sending my husband out to die."

Arthur flinched, the implication that the deaths of the men who hadn't returned were his fault hitting him hard. He watched Euell's wife leave and turned to Euell. "So?"

"People have started disappearing from the outer houses of the lower town." Euell drained his cup. "Has the book been of any help?"

Arthur put down his own cup and stood up. "Not yet, but we don't have anything else to use against this. We don't even know what 'it' is. If you'll excuse me, I'm going to return to my room and study the book.

Euell nodded and poured himself another glass of wine. "I wish you luck, Sire."

~

The last thing Arthur expected to see when he opened the door to his room was Merlin sitting on his bed, with the book open on his lap. Merlin jumped up and knocked the book onto the floor.

"Arthur! It was open – it must have… um." Merlin picked up the book and tried to close it, but Arthur snatched it out of his hands.

"Fine, it's open; I don't care how it happened. Did you find anything?" Arthur flicked through a few pages of haphazard script.

"Not really. Although there's going to be a flood in Mercia next year, and someone called Wystan is going to, or has already given several serving girls the clap and they'll spread it all over the castle."

Arthur let himself laugh and enjoy Merlin's carefree presence for a few moments, before sitting down and opening the book at random. There, in large, hastily written letters was the message:

 _  
**Pendragon, son of our downfall. Give the book to the warlock, Merlin. He is the only one who can save you.**   
_

Arthur froze, suddenly breathless. He swallowed and was able to breathe again; he inhaled deeply and turned to Merlin, who was laying out Arthur's nightshirt. "Merlin?"

"Yes?" Merlin turned around, and Arthur held the book up, so Merlin could read what it said. Merlin's smile disappeared and he went white, then looked up and met Arthur's eyes. Arthur could see the guilt written on Merlin's face as clearly as he could read the words on the page. Merlin was a sorcerer.

"Arthur…"

The rage was too big. The betrayal, the hurt, everything. It was all too much. If he'd had a sword, he would have drawn it, and Merlin must have seen the murder in his face, because he stepped back.

"Arthur, please, listen. I…"

"Get out." Arthur said.

Merlin opened his mouth to argue, but Arthur held up a hand, stopping him. "If you want to live to see the morning. Get out _now."_

Merlin nodded and slipped out of the door. And Arthur lost himself to the rage for a while. Eventually there wasn't anything left in the room to break. The heavy furniture resisted Arthur's attempts to hurl it at the walls, and there hadn't been much that was breakable in the room in the first place. Arthur slumped next to the bed and dragged the book back towards himself. Page after page of gibberish, advice to people Arthur didn't know, events that had already happened, instructions to the Dragonlord, which had Arthur growling in frustration over Balinor's death again.

There was nothing useful in the book, and he ended up staring at the one message directed to him. "Give the book to the Warlock, Merlin."

Arthur remembered Merlin drinking poison for him. Spending more than one day in the stocks while covering for him. Polishing his boots, and bringing his food, and cleaning his armour… none of it matched with what he knew of magic-users.

Sighing, he got to his feet. Too much was at stake; the only thing he could do was give Merlin the book. Maybe he could make sense of it. Arthur put the book down on the floor, the only table in the room now reduced to kindling, and left to find the hayloft Merlin was supposed to have been sleeping in.

~

The stables were warm and comforting, the scent of horses had always had a calming effect on Arthur, and he wandered past the sleeping horses, in no hurry to find Merlin.

"Y… Your Highness!" A young stable boy appeared out of a pile of straw and blankets. "How may I serve you?" He bowed ridiculously low and almost toppled over.

Arthur smiled at the boy. "I'm looking for my manservant, Merlin. Have you seen him?"

"Merlin? Yes, I saw him; he rode out half a candlemark ago."

"Rode out?" Arthur said, "Rode out where?"

The boy shrugged, then remembered he was talking to royalty. "I'm sorry, Sire, I don't know, he didn't say. He just got his horse out and saddled her and rode away."

Fear squeezed something painful in Arthur stomach. "Saddle my horse."

"What?" The boy cried, "You can't go out there, it's dangerous!"

Arthur ignored him and found where his horse had been stabled. He led him out and helped the boy on with the saddle. "Tell Lord Euell I may have found something in his book. I'll be back in the morning with help." He turned his horse to the open stable door and whispered to himself, "Or not at all."

~

The lower town was full of light. Every house had a dozen lanterns lit, as if an abundance of light would keep whatever was taking people at bay. As Arthur rode out of the town, he could see the ring of light, and a few dark houses standing empty just outside it. Praying he wasn't too late, he pointed his horse towards Ealdor and urged him to walk as quickly as he dared in the darkness.

An hour later and Arthur was soaked to the skin. He'd left in just his shirt and trousers, and they'd offered little protection against the rain that had started before he'd been riding for half an hour. Suddenly, his horse screamed and reared up. Tired and wet, Arthur slid off the wet saddle and sprawled on the ground, cursing as his horse galloped into the night. He heard the hoofbeats splashing through the mud until, with a cut off scream of pain, they stopped. Arthur felt the silence and darkness crowd around him.

"Show yourselves," Arthur shouted.

The sound of hissing laughter came out of the dark. _"You think to command us? You are alone, Pendragon. Without your dragon-blood warlock you are powerless. Every drop of rain washes the dragon stink from the land, and we grow more powerful. Ten more minutes in this storm, and it will have washed from you. Closer and closer we can come, as the magic from your little pet's touch is rained away."_

Arthur saw a flicker of movement to his right, he turned and saw a gleam of slick greenish-black before it disappeared into the dark. "You're here because the Dragon is dead?"

The laughter came again. _"The Guardian is not dead. He has abandoned you. Your warlock drove him from the land, so he has withdrawn his protection. Just as the warlock has withdrawn his protection from you."_

"Merlin didn't…"

The darkness suddenly filled with the sound of a hundred monstrous voices hissing in pain. _"Not so unprotected as you pretend, Pendragon. Very clever, but we will have you eventually, even if we have to wait for the warlock to die."_

Arthur could see a faint glow of blue light in the distance, as the whispering sounds of strange creatures fleeing in the opposite direction faded. He recognised the light. It was the same light that had helped him in caves when he's searched for the Morteus flower.

"Merlin!" Arthur shouted, and the light came closer and closer until Arthur could see Merlin riding towards him. Anger and relief and fear all mixed together, and he didn't know what to say when Merlin dropped from his horse and stood in front of him.

"We should get out of the rain," Merlin said. "There's a cottage about half a mile back."

Arthur nodded, and followed Merlin, the ball of blue light bobbing above them.

~

The cottage had the same dead feel as everything else. But it was dry and there was firewood. Merlin lit the fire with a whispered word and turned to Arthur. "What were you thinking, coming out here?"

Arthur glared. "I was thinking that the only relevant information in that book was that you were supposed to read it. You can't do that if you've run off home."

"Run home? Is that what you think I was doing? Arthur, I was trying to find whatever was doing all this." Merlin stripped off his scarf and laid it on the hearth to dry.

"It's a 'them', not an 'it'," Arthur said. "Hundreds, I think. I couldn't see them, only hear them. They seem to be afraid of you."

Merlin looked surprised. "Me?"

"One of them spoke to me, something about you being a dragon-blood Warlock."

Merlin looked away. "Oh."

Arthur waited silently, shivering slightly despite the fire.

"You remember Balinor?" Merlin said finally.

"Not something I'm likely to forget." Arthur found some blankets in a small box bed along the wall, and started stripping out of his wet clothes.

"He was my father. When he died, I became the last Dragon Lord."

Arthur wrapped himself in a blanket and sat down. It was too much to process. "So… you've only been magic for… two weeks?"

"No, I've been a Dragon Lord for two weeks. I've been magic all my life." Merlin reached carefully over and took a blanket of his own, wrapping himself in it before wriggling out of his wet trousers.

"So you've been lying to me every day we've known each other?" Arthur couldn't reconcile 'Sorcerer, Dragon Lord, Warlock' with the wet and miserable Merlin sitting on the floor in front of him.

Merlin sighed. "The first thing I saw when I arrived in Camelot was your father executing a man for using magic."

"Why did you become my servant?"

Merlin shrugged. "I needed work, and your father pretty much gave me to you. Which, by the way, he really shouldn't have been able to do, since I wasn't one of his subjects."

"He thinks you're Gaius' bastard." Arthur hadn't meant to tell Merlin that, ever, but it seemed like a night for truth. "How powerful are you?"

Merlin looked up, right into Arthur's eyes and said, "I don't know. Very. I can command the Great Dragon. I can turn a stone statue into a living creature. I can kill a man with a word. I haven't really found any limits yet."

"Any yet, with all that power, you serve me." Arthur reached out and grabbed Merlin, shoving him down on the floor. "Why?"

Merlin pushed at Arthur, but Arthur pinned him down. "Because you'll be a great King one day. Because I need to do something good with this power. Because you give me purpose. Because as long as I serve you, I know I won't turn into one of _them!"_

Arthur let himself enjoy the feeling of Merlin under him. "One of them?"

"Nimeuh and Edwin Muirden, and all the others who use their power to hurt people." Merlin turned his face away. "They can't have all started out like that."

Arthur could feel the anger thundering through him. "So I'm your redemption?"

Merlin glared back. "I don't need to be redeemed, I haven’t done anything wrong."

Arthur leaned down so his face was only inches from Merlin's and hissed, "You're a liar and a sorcerer. You say you'll serve me, but you've lied to me every day I've known you. I can't trust you." Arthur could see his words hurt Merlin, and for a moment he wanted to take them back.

Merlin stopped trying to push away. "I've never lied to you about anything except the magic. Everything else was true. Do you remember… I said I'd serve you until the day I die?" Arthur reluctantly nodded. "That was the truth."

"Prove it," Arthur growled.

Merlin looked up at him with a helpless expression on his face. "How?"

Arthur closed the distance between them and bit hard at Merlin's lower lip. "Let me." He pressed down and let Merlin feel how the anger and the closeness had aroused him. "Let me." Arthur reached up and grabbed a handful of Merlin's hair, tugged his head back and bit the pale skin where his neck and shoulder met. "Let me."

Merlin closed his eyes and whispered, "Yes."

~

Arthur woke first. He felt rested for the first time in weeks. Merlin was lying sprawled over more than his share of the bed, snoring slightly, and Arthur suppressed the instinct to leap out of the bed and have a full-blown panic attack. The anger had burned out, leaving guilt at what he'd done to Merlin the night before. Arthur could see the bruises on Merlin's skin, and the bite marks along his shoulders.

Before he could decide what to do, or sort out how he felt about what had happened, Merlin opened his eyes. The wary smile on Merlin's face was all Arthur needed, and he rolled over and hugged him.

"I'm sorry, Merlin," Arthur whispered into Merlin's hair. "I'm sorry, I shouldn't…"

"Shhh," Merlin hushed him. "I wasn't just you. We both needed it."

Arthur pulled back. "Merlin, you're covered in bruises. You screamed when I…" Arthur couldn't finish. The memories of holding Merlin down and doing what he'd wanted to do for too long crowded in, crippling him with arousal and guilt. It had felt so good – the combination of taking Merlin to bed and of having all that power under him, of pushing himself into it.

"Yes, I did." Merlin was blushing. "I wasn't screaming 'stop' though, was I?"

Arthur sat up, even though part of him wanted to stay curled up in the bed with Merlin. The night before had been intense in a number of ways, but dealing with it all would have to take second place. "We need to talk about a lot of things, but first you need to read that book. There were messages for a Dragon Lord in there. I skipped over them, because I thought the Dragon Lords died out with Balinor, but if you're a Dragon Lord, they're probably for you."

~

Merlin grumbled about his sore arse the whole ride back to Lord Euell's keep. Oddly, the grumbling and the way Merlin kept shifting behind him on the back of the horse cheered him up. The cheer died as they rode through the lower town. The quiet now extended further in. Arthur kicked the horse into a canter and stopped at the keep's gates. There was no sentry and the gate was barred.

Arthur dismounted and Merlin followed. "Merlin, can you…?"

Merlin whispered something and waved his hand at the gate, the bar lifted off and the gate swung open. Arthur tried not to show how much the casual use of magic disturbed him, so he nodded his thanks and they entered the keep. Five minutes was all it took to know that it was empty.

Arthur checked the fire in the main hall – it had died down, but wasn't dead. "It can't have been more than a few hours ago." They looked at each other – if they'd come straight back instead of spending the night in the cottage…

"We need the book," Merlin said.

~

Arthur's room hadn't been touched. Merlin raised and eyebrow at the smashed furniture, but didn't say anything. Arthur found a dusty loaf of bread that must have been Merlin's supper from the night before half under the bed and sat down to eat as Merlin picked up the book.

Merlin pointed at the bread. "They haven't been in here. They don't leave food behind."

"The one I spoke to last night said your smell kept them away. Something about the dragon magic." Arthur tore a lump of bread off and passed it to Merlin. "Eat, we're not going to find it easy to get more."

Merlin took the bread and chewed as he read. After ten minutes he looked up. "The Great Dragon isn't dead."

"I know, the thing last night told me. What did you do?"

"I told him to go away, and he did. According to this, that was a mistake." Merlin read out a passage of the book. "You should have guarded your father better, Dragon Lord. He knew what would befall Albion if you banished Dragonkind."

"Oh." Arthur remembered Merlin's tears when Balinor had died. "I'm sorry. About your father dying like that." Arthur sat down beside Merlin and tried to think of something comforting to say, but all he could think of was, "You should have had more time with him."

Merlin looked down at the book again. "Thanks."

They sat in silence for a while, until Merlin started shaking his head. "That's it? Just call him back?"

"Call the dragon back?" Arthur asked.

"Yes. I call him back and those things go away."

"That seems simple enough," Arthur said.

Merlin sighed. "It does, doesn't it? Nothing is simple with Kilgarragh though."

~

They climbed up onto a flat roof on the south end of the keep, and Arthur leaned against a chimney, watching Merlin pacing around the edge of the roof. "Do you think there's anyone left?"

Merlin shrugged. "Not here."

"I meant anywhere." Arthur was trying not to think of all the people he cared about back at Camelot.

"Kilgarragh was under Camelot for a long time, and it doesn't rain as much there as it does this far north." Merlin stopped walking and faced west. "I think I know where he is. You might want to cover your ears, this will be loud."

He'd expected Merlin to need potions or charms or something to summon a dragon, but he was just standing there, one lanky boy of nineteen in ragged clothes and a bad haircut. And then Merlin threw back his head and shouted.

Arthur could feel the command in his bones; it seemed to echo through everything. The whole world seemed to shake, and Arthur stared in amazement at Merlin. This wasn't just magic, this was something else, something deeper and more powerful than the sorcerous tricks he'd seen before. This was a magic that could crack the world.

Merlin joined him at the chimney. "I think he's coming. I felt him hear me, anyway. It might take a while."

Arthur nodded, still speechless.

"What?" Merlin asked.

Arthur leaned over and kissed him. "You're mine, aren't you?"

Merlin grinned. "Always."

~

The End


End file.
